When I made the decision a few years ago to concentrate more on writing dark fantasy or sword and sorcery stories, one of the assumptions I made was that I would need to create some sort of swordsman or barbarian hero. Hence it was that Welgar was born, a northern mercenary, though his fate would be far from that of a Conan after he was possessed by the spirit of a powerful godlike demon in the notorious city of Agrypt.
Yet, despite writing a number of tales about Welgar, one of my most prolific characters turned out to be the complete opposite of a barbarian hero, but a tall, thin, dark robed, somewhat surreptitious sorcerer named Ossani, who prefers to go by the name of 'Ossani the Healer'. Due to his poor eyesight, he wears a complex contraption he calls his occular on his shaven head, made up of leather and metal bands that hold a number of different polished lenses, any two of which are arranged before his eyes, depending upon whether he wants to see near or far.
It was with the creation of yet another non-heroic character, Nadrain the Storyteller, that Ossani was introduced.
In "The Storyteller of Koss" Ossani appears towards the end of the tale, brought in by the city guard in Assabarr to deal with the demonically-possessed sarcophagus of a millennia-dead despot called Rianda the Terrible. Ossani's role in the story is to destroy the entities connected to it and save Nadrain's life.
His next appearance was much more extensive. In "Ossani the Healer and the Beautiful Homunculus" he shares the pages with Welgar, newly arrived in Assabarr to earn a living as a member of the city guard. Unfortunately for the two of them Assabarr has fallen under the malign influence of a puritanical revolution in the city's ruling priesthood and both their lives are in danger till they discover who is behind the troubles.
Again, Ossani is very much a background figure in the next story, "The Troupe", where he is engaged to help a group of travelling actors fool the local priesthood, though his aid ultimately has dire results for the leading protagonist!
After this, it was time for Ossani to leave the city of Assabarr, whose hostile priesthood has decided to set their dreaded Inquisition on him. Sorcery is illegal in Assabarr on pain of death. Thus it is in "Ossani's Escape" he sets out with a group of newly-acquired slaves for the city of Oriaska, whose priesthood is weak and whose citizens are more interested in making money and licentiousness than any sorcerous activities.
Immediately after arriving in Oriaska, though, Ossani meets his most dangerous challenges yet, when two sorcerous attacks are made on his life. This tale is "The Moneylender of Oriaska", in which he meets his future apprentice, the girl Arrenya, who features as the main protagonist in his next story, "Ossani's Apprentice".
Around this time Ossani appears in a smaller if ultimately important role in "Ezmiyel the Beggar", where some of Ossani's darker side is revealed.
With the return of Welgar after the events that befell our hero in "The Forbidden City of Cyramon", both men have important roles to play in "Emerging from their Twilit Realms".
Putting in but a passing appearance in "The Sorcerer's Casket", Ossani's next major role is in "From the Ashes" when he is reunited with Welgar, when they have to deal with a powerful and deadly vampiric entity.
"Masks of Deception" introduces a second, younger apprentice to Ossani, who works with Arrenya in a bid to rescue Ossani after he is kidnapped by a group of vengeful Agryptian sorcerer-priests, intent on subjecting him to a long and painful death.
The final Ossani tale to date is "The Narcolopsia", which again involves Welgar and more Agryptian vengefulness.
Ossani stories to date are:
The Storyteller of Koss - Summer of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Volume 1
Ossani the Healer and the Beautiful Homunculus - Welgar the Cursed
The Troupe - Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy Volume 8
Ossani's Escape - Cirsova, Fall Issue 2026
The Moneylender of Oriaska - Swords & Heroes Quarterly Spring 2026
Ossani's Apprentice - Swords & Heroes Quarterly Spring 2026
Ezmiyel the Beggar - not yet published
Emerging from their Twilit Realms - Welgar the Cursed
The Sorcerer's Casket - not yet published
From the Ashes - Savage Realms Monthly July 2026
Masks of Deception - not yet published
The Narcolopsia - not yet published
.jpg)
.bmp)
